Here's the original prompt that we were given in class: Respond directly to O'Brien's questions for the reader near the end of the story: "You're at the bow of a boat on the Rainy River. You're twenty years old, you're scared, and there's a hard squeezing pressure in your chest. What would you do?" How would you answer this? What would you do? Had I been in O'Brien's shoes, I probably would have turned back and headed home, not because of a lack of courage, but because I would not be able to deal with the guilt of having not fought in the war when I had been asked. It certainly wouldn't come from a place of proud nationalism or extreme bravado, rather from the understanding that it would be hard, years later, to see other men who died or fought at my age while I was sitting up somewhere safe and unbothered in Canada. I would feel as if I had cheated life. I also wouldn't see leaving for Canada as an act of courage. Yes, it w...